Category: education

Boomers retiring by the tens of millions each year.

How many times have you heard it said, “If I only knew then what I know now…” about everything from financial planning to raising kids? It’s likely that you’ve heard it at least several times a week and now even millennials are becoming tuned in to the problems besetting boomers as they age and retire.

The world is a much different place than it was, even a generation ago, and so it would be wise for the younger generation to look at some of the trials and tribulations of boomers as they begin retiring by the tens of millions each year.

Insufficient Planning Delays Retirement

One of the major problems that many boomers face is that they didn’t plan sufficiently for their future. They assumed their Social Security check along with that 401k or other retirement investment would be sufficient to provide for them in their senior years.

Back a few generations, there simply weren’t the resources to plan well for retirement and today’s retirees are learning that they should have planned better. Today there are financial products that are aimed at growing wealth for your senior years and these are the products millennials should be investigating when seeking to invest in their own futures.

Unexpected Rises in the Cost of Living

What it all boils down to is that no one really expected the cost of living to skyrocket as it has. Some attribute it to the cost of production, keeping prices rising while others attribute it to higher taxes and the increasing cost of fuel and food. For whatever reason, the cost of living has far surpassed the rise in wages and this is something no one could have foreseen but perhaps should have planned for anyway.

Avoid Borrowing against Retirement Savings

Another one of the big mistakes boomers made, almost across the board, is to have borrowed heavily along the way against their retirement savings. This is a big problem that millennials should learn from. If at all possible, don’t delete those savings! Find a way to finance what you need to pay but leave that money where it is so that it can continue growing.

You know what they say about good intentions, so don’t be caught in the ‘intend to replace it’ trap. Chances are you will never replace that money once it has been spent. Just as you think you’ve got your head above water, another crisis surfaces and so it goes. Put that money away and forget it’s there. That, perhaps, is the biggest lesson you can learn from boomers.

The Logic of Downsizing Early

When it comes to downsizing once the nest is empty, altogether too many people fail to liquidate assets early enough. That big six bedroom home you live in and raised your children in may be sentimental but now that it’s paid off, sell it, buy a smaller property and invest the profit made from the sale.

Too many middle age people hang on to the family homestead thinking to save it for the kids, or to have a place for them if they need to come home. It’s time for grown kids to be grown kids. Think about your future by downsizing as soon as the nest is empty. Can you imagine how that amount of money can grow over the course of a couple decades until you are ready to retire?

Diversify Your Investments

And one final thing which millennials should learn from boomers is that they failed to diversify their investment products early enough. Altogether too many people lost their savings with the economic crisis of a decade ago and now those boomers simply don’t have enough time to recover their losses.

By diversifying your retirement investments, you can have that added bit of protection if one market should fail. The last time it was real estate that led to a global crisis. What will it be next time around? No one knows so diversify, unless of course you are a fortune teller and can predict the future.

The intelligent millennial will take a good look around them and fully understand the predicament most boomers are in now as they face retirement. It is always good counsel to be told to learn from your elders, in both their triumphs and failures, but never more so when planning for retirement. Don’t fall into the same trap your parents and grandparents fell in. You can learn a lot from boomers if you care to open your eyes. Plan now and live comfortably later – a great investment strategy altogether.

Learn About the Incredible Antikythera Mechanism

As far as science and technology go, the Antikythera Mechanism is one of the biggest and most intriguing stories ever told. But what exactly is the Antikythera Mechanism and what makes it such a significant discovery?

The Antikythera Mechanism is a device used to monitor and forecast solar cycles. The mechanism, which is often described as the world’s “first analogical computer,” is believed to have been used by early astronomers to mark the calendar as well as predict solar and lunar eclipse by tracking the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.

The Antikythera Mechanism was also used to plan a four-year athletics tournament cycle like the Olympic Games. Technically, you would be right to call it a calculator, as it was used to add, multiply, divide, and subtract. In addition, the relic could align different cycles and show the position of the sun and moon in the zodiac.

The device, a complex system, comprises over 30 sophisticated bronze gears held in a wooden and bronze case that’s about the same size as a shoebox. These gears were used to control dials tracking the moon, sun, planets, eclipses, as well as the schedule for the Olympics.

When Was the Antikythera Mechanism Discovered?

In 1900, a boatload of Greek sponge divers was blown off course by a storm, forcing them to take shelter by the small Mediterranean island of Antikythera, per LiveScience. The following day, they went diving off the tiny island and found the wreck of an ancient trading ship believed to be 2,000-years-old.

The divers later retrieved three flat pieces of corroded bronze from the submerged ship, which many believe sank between 70 BC and 60 BC on its way to Rome from Asia. Researchers say the device was first made sometime between the second and early first century.

Two years after the discovery, Greek politician, Spirydon Stais, who spearheaded the ship’s underwater excavation, visited the museum where the treasures from the wrecked cargo ship were kept. While sifting through the items, Stais was attracted by some fascinating pieces of bronze, which would later be known as the Antikythera Mechanism.

The Antikythera Mechanism’s True Purpose Finally Discovered

In the decades past, scientists have made several attempts to find the actual purpose of the Antikythera Mechanism using X-rays and CT scans to look inside the device. Despite several efforts, it wasn’t until 1951 that Derek J. de Solla Price found the real purpose of the “computer.”

Assisted by Greek nuclear physicist Charalampos Karakalos, Price took a complete X-ray and gamma-ray images of the device’s 82 fragments. His research showed that the mechanism’s primary gear represented the calendar year, while the smaller, unconnected gears were designed to serve as the celestial bodies, cites an Independent article.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

You may think a degree in business is enough to help you in your career of choice. While it may help you land your first job, for you to prosper, you need to continue improving yourself, otherwise your skills will become overlooked. Completing an MBA in Project Management can help develop your skills, which will, in turn, propel you forward in your career. Through project management, you can learn how to make goals and meet them within the constraints your business or client imposes.

Here are three ways your can implement project management skills in business.

Organizational Skills

Business requires a level of organization, however, chaos can ensue. You need to ensure that you are able to organize not only yourself but also your team. Otherwise, you may miss deadline, fail to meet quality or miss out on details that could impact the business as a whole. As a leader, it is up to you to meet the client’s brief, while knowing how to manage the scope of the project, the budget and the quality and time that is needed.

Strategic Planning

It’s in the name – ‘management’ means you will be managing a number of projects as well as people, so that you can meet deadlines and ensure the quality is up-to-scratch. You may be assigned one project at a time or perhaps two. If it is the latter, then multi-tasking is a required skill.

You may need to work with other sectors within the business, such as designers, contractors and other project managers. Ill-defined project management can be detrimental to a project and the client’s objectives, which is why, if you are needing to improve your skills, you should look for ways to improve your knowledge in the area. Project management MBA program can help teach you about strategy, as well as leadership, making business decisions and marketing.

Working Within Budget

All projects will require you to work with a set budget. This is a necessity, so that your business – and client – can breakeven or make a profit. To ensure you do not overspend, you need to learn how to work with money and keep finances in order. Project management can help you work within this common constraint.

As a project manager, you need to speak to your client and understand the outcome they are hoping for. While a budget may seem restricting, it can help you mold an image of what it is your client is after – without overstepping the mark. This is a problem you need to solve, which is why learning problem-solving skills can help you deliver to your client and impress them.

Project management has the ability to help you improve your skills personally as well as your professional life. You can become a better leader, know how to manage within certain Res-Ptrictions, work with clients as well as co-workers, and establish or improve pre-existing planning, organizational and marketing skills. Project management skills can be obtained easily, through the internet and through online courses.

The principle of refinancing works in the background of the process of debt consolidation. The loan market is highly competitive and securing loans at favorable rates and terms depends to some extent on your negotiating abilities and identifying the right lenders. If you take a business loan today, thinking it is the best deal, then you are highly mistaken. There are always many opportunities of getting a better deal for the same loan, and if you are on the lookout, then you can get a better loan at lower interest. Since taking multiple business loans is quite common, staying on the hunt for cheaper loans must be a business objective. Once you have found the new lender that offers lower interest than many other loans you are carrying, consolidate other high-value loans and replace it with the new one.

Avoid the debt trap

Taking loans for business operations is fairly reasonable, and having multiple loans is also not a problem, provided you can manage it. There must not be any missed payment, and the loans must not become burdensome. There has to be a balance between what you borrow and what you repay because you should never borrow money for business but end up using it for loan repayment. If you do this often, you are running the risk of being sucked into a debt trap that can ultimately ruin the business. To avoid any disaster and to make loans easily manageable,refer to debt consolidation reviews to identify companies that help in consolidating loans for smooth business operations and replace multiple loans with a single one.

The ease of handling lenders

Too many lenders are always difficult to manage, as you must be on your toes to keep up with different payment dates, many debt collectors, and different interest rates. The process of servicing loans can be quite stressful as it takes too much of your time and distracts you from the core business functions. Having a single lender removes all unnecessary stress in managing loans, as you are more comfortable in dealing with one creditor and a monthly payment date. You can devote more time to the core business areas, which was not possible earlier.

When consolidating loans with a new one, besides reducing the number of lenders, another opportunity that you can avail is of lowering the interest you pay on loans. Take the new loan at an interest rate that is lower than the average interest rate on the existing loans that you intend to replace, and in the process, you reduce the monthly payment and save money. Debt consolidation thus gives you an opportunity of generating surplus money that you can use for business. The double benefit of consolidation puts you in an advantageous position to manage your finances better, which is the third benefit.

Amazon Audio System

Seattle-based American e-commerce and cloud computing company, Amazon has filed for a patent for its new audio system which detects and translates accents in real time, according to a Techcrunch report. The application tries to make accents easier to understand by adjusting a speaker’s voice to be similar to a listener’s accent.

If the innovation gets approved and is released in product form, it will make Amazon only one of several tech giants to introduce such functionality. The likes of Microsoft and Google have added such features to Skype and Google Translate respectively. Google’s Pixel Buds earphones also support the feature.

The Techcrunch report states that Amazon’s new program will be based on machine learning or aspects of machines. The machine learning methods involve individuals with a specific accent training different machines on speech for many hours. It is also believed that Amazon’s virtual assistant, the Amazon Alexa, with its global presence, will make the translation process faster and easier, thanks to a torrent of audio samples collected from smart devices like the Amazon Echo.

Amazon uses phone numbers, location data, as well as previous correspondence to identify the right accent to use. The application requires only a few words alongside previous accent data to detect how a user is likely to be speaking correctly. The speaker can also pick their accent manually.

An App Potentially Adaptable to Many Uses

If it ends up in a product form, Amazon’s real-time accent translator will have many applications. Users who travel far and wide and those who conduct international businesses could genuinely appreciate its ability to eliminate the accent barrier on the international scene.

Also, those who contact call center agents frequently will know how difficult it can be to understand some accents even if you speak the same language. The app will smoothen conversation, making it easier for a listener to understand what a call center agent is saying and vice versa.

A Dominant Player

The real-time accent translator patent signals Amazon’s intent to continue to expand its position in a market it already dominates. New data from the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) show that Amazon has captured a greater share (70%) of the US smart speaker market, which in itself is experiencing strong growth.

Google comes a distant second with 24 percent market share thanks to its Google Home device. Apple’s Homepod ranks third with just 6% of the smart speaker market. There’s no denying that Amazon’s two-year head start gave it a helping hand. With competitors still playing catch up, however, the real-time accent translator may help the e-commerce giant to establish itself in the market further if released.

Millennials Are the Fastest Growing Customer Base.

Millennials are the fastest growing customer base. Their number, education, and exposure make them a target for businesses who are looking to woo clients. The story is no different in the banking industry where financial institutions consider them an asset that must be had.

Think about it; it has been predicted that millennials will represent about 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025, per Bankingly.com. Millennials also make up a more significant portion of the labor market. They may not be as wealthy as the boomers, but more workforce means more money at their disposal to contribute towards bank deposits. The millennials have it all, it seems. So it makes sense that they are a target for anyone who is looking to generate customers.

However, this generation tends to have different expectations from boomers when it comes to the financial services sector.

Understanding their Reasons and Preferences

It is no secret that consumer taste changes with each passing generation. For millennials, this means a preference for online banking over more traditional financial institutions. After all, they are a generation who practically live on their smartphones. Millennials are tech-savvy and consider their phones the new wallet because they expect digital convenience in all aspects of their lives.

The Bankingly report claims that 71% of millennials would rather go to the dentist than go to the bank. Also, around 33% of millennials are of the opinion that they do not need a bank. A further 53 percent of them believe that their banks offer the same products as any other.

This makes millennials more open to switching banks since they don’t see any differences between these financial institutions. Instead of sticking with brick-and-mortar banks, millennials prefer mobile banking. Baby boomers, on the other hand, prefer to stick with older banks due to concerns over the safety of their financial data. Such diverging attitudes create a huge problem for financial institutions.

With the boomers retiring, millennials are expected to fuel future growth for the banking industry through loans, mortgages, retirement accounts, etc. Nonetheless, it appears that banking needs of millennials are influenced by their lifestyles. And this creates uncertainty regarding what the future holds for older banks.

Two Main Reasons Millennials

The global financial crisis: The global financial crisis has made millennials skeptical of banks. The 2007 global financial crisis made it hard for older millennials who came of age at that time to secure jobs and pay off student loans. Also, they are educated enough to know that the global financial crisis was due to the greed and fraud that pervaded the banking industry at the time.

Millennials expect digital convenience: As mentioned earlier, millennials demand digital services because they seek convenience. The American Bankers Association reports that millennials are three times more likely to open a new account with their phone than in person. This causes them to lean more towards banks that offer digital services than the more traditional ones.

Millenials Are Distrustful of the Traditional Banking System World Wide. They Expect The Digital Convenience , Faster Service From Mobile Apps and Tablets For Their Banking Needs

Advances in Automation and Technology

Advances in computing, automation, and communication have shifted focus from traditional methods to the use of technology in payments, clearing, trading, and regulatory compliance. This has led to Financial technology (often referred to as Fintech) programs taking center stage in colleges as schools attempt to play an integral part in the fintech revolution by training students for jobs in today’s fast-growing financial technology industry.

These courses are designed to enable students to advance their knowledge in critical aspects of technology such as machine learning, data analytics, and blockchain technology, among others. FinTech programs aim to improve college financial literacy by making it possible for students to gain an understanding of various technologies and obtain practical experience working with them.

These include several innovations that facilitate online transactions, such as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, mobile banking applications like Venmo, and online payment solutions such as PayPal and Skrill.

Fintech also comprises tech-based financial services such as crowdfunding systems, automated financial planning, peer-to-peer lending marketplaces, as well as robo wealth managers such as Betterment.

Students Clamor

The use of digital technology is fast becoming the norm, leading to a revolution that is rapidly transforming the financial industry. This has led to calls by students for financial technology courses to be introduced in colleges. This, they believe, will enable them to understand the complexity of the payment infrastructure and be acquainted with critical payment instruments and how they function, among others.

Students demand, coupled with the far-reaching disruption in the financial industry has the schools themselves making conscientious efforts to teach students how to master financial technology.

Institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, Columbia University’s business school, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, etc. have all adopted fintech programs in their curriculum.

Fintech in Colleges: Effectiveness and Challenges

So far, fintech courses have proven to be highly effective as colleges scramble to bring together leading academics to educate students on the impact of technology on business, finance, and society. Various innovative research has been conducted and new courses introduced, all in a bid to develop the next generation of fintech experts and re-educate students in new financial technologies.

In spite of the opportunities, however, schools and students face challenges in their attempt to venture into this new area of research. Students who are interested in specializing in fintech may be limited by the lack of textbooks and other teaching materials on the subject. Similarly, most professors have limited knowledge of fintech.

Nonetheless, scholars hope to construct school curriculum and develop real-life cases that will enable students to become knowledgeable enough to make inventions of their own. For now, it looks like fintech finally has its place in academia, which makes for exciting times ahead.

The Fourth of July—also known as Independence Day or July 4th—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence.

John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document,[3] which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The next day, July 3, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail: “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.”[4] But the national birthday, Independence Day, is celebrated on July 4, the date that the Declaration of Independence was signed.

After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for this printing has been lost, and may have been a copy in Thomas Jefferson’s hand.[5] Jefferson’s original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and Jefferson’s notes of changes made by Congress, are preserved at the Library of Congress. The best known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, and signed primarily on August 2.[6][7]

This man of only 33 years old, wrote the original rough draft of the Declaration contained a line condemning slavery: “He has waged cruel war against human nature itself … in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither … suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce determining to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold.”

The Federal Constitution

The People Of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html

The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government. All through the summer, in closed sessions, the delegates debated, and redrafted the articles of the new Constitution. Among the chief points at issue were how much power to allow the central government, how many representatives in Congress to allow each state, and how these representatives should be elected–directly by the people or by the state legislators. The work of many minds, the Constitution stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise.

The Reasons Why We Have the Constitution

The Declaration of Independence, approved July 4, 1776, listed the reasons why Americans declared their independence from King George:

“He has made judges dependent on his will alone …”

“He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”

“For … establishing … an arbitrary government …”

“For … altering fundamentally the forms of our governments …”

“He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny …”

“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions …”

Called the “Chief Architect of the Constitution,” he wrote many of the Federalist Papers which helped convince States to ratify the Constitution. He introduced the First Amendment in the first session of Congress. This was James Madison, born MARCH 16, 1751. During the War of 1812, Madison proclaimed two National Days of Prayer, 1812 and 1813. When the British marched on Washington, D.C., citizens evacuated, along with President and Dolly Madison. On August 25, 1814, as the British burned the White House, Capitol and public buildings, dark clouds began to roll in. A tornado sent debris flying, blew off roofs and knocked chimneys over on top of British troops. Two cannons were lifted off the ground and dropped yards away. A British historian wrote: “More British soldiers were killed by this stroke of nature than from all the firearms the American troops had mustered.” British forces fled in confusion and rains extinguished the fires. Madison then proclaimed a National Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting & Prayer to Almighty God on November 16, 1814. Two weeks after the War ended, Madison proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving & Devout Acknowledgment to Almighty God, March 4, 1815.

Who Signed the Constitution?

1 George Washington Virginia

2 George Read Delaware

3 Gunning Bedford, Jr. Delaware

4 John Dickinson Delaware

5 Richard Bassett Delaware

6 Jacob Broom Delaware

7 James McHenry Maryland

8 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Maryland

9 Daniel Carroll Maryland

10 John Blair Virginia

11 James Madison, Jr. Virginia

12 William Blount North Carolina

13 Richard Dobbs Spaight North Carolina

14 Hugh Williamson North Carolina

15 John Rutledge South Carolina

16 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney South Carolina

17 Charles Pinckney South Carolina

18 Pierce Butler South Carolina

19 William Few Georgia

20 Abraham Baldwin Georgia

21 John Langdon New Hampshire

22 Nicholas Gilman New Hampshire

23 Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts

24 Rufus King Massachusetts

25 William Samuel Johnson Connecticut

26 Roger Sherman Connecticut

Something to Think About

And with the Constitution being written, and designed with purposeful Intent, and accurately worded, to protect our rights as free citizens today, all the Great Americans of the time, the signers of this great Constitution , would be appalled by the state of our Government today. Our Forefather, the “Authors” of our fate for the future of this great country would roll over in their graves today upon seeing the State of The Union in the United States of America. Do Something good for your country in the Month of Freedom, the month of the July.

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most hotly discussed topics in the tech world today. Hardly does any tech conversation take place nowadays without the mention of Artificial Intelligence. This raises the question, what exactly is artificial intelligence?

As the name implies, artificial intelligence refers to the ability of machines to perceive and comprehend complex information. In other words, Artificial Intelligence is a technology that is built to function in a way that imitates how humans operate.

Applications that utilize artificial intelligence attempt to make the user experience feel much like interacting with humans. Like humans, artificial intelligence also develops skills through learning. AI programs learn and adapt by taking in information, processing it, and saving such data for future reference.

By their very nature, AI systems exhibit certain behaviors that are associated with human intelligence, including, learning, planning, problem solving, reasoning, and motion. Others behaviors demonstrated by the programs include perception, knowledge representation, manipulation, among others. To deliver useful and accurate information, the AI system is trained on the data it is fed.

The advances being made with artificial intelligence in recent times is thanks to improvements in machine learning, which involves educating computers to perform tasks based on examples instead of depending on programming by a human.

What Are the Uses of Artificial Intelligence?

The journey has been long. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence is gradually evolving into something that’s useful to human society. The knowledge displayed by machines have many applications in our community today. Some of these include voice-based personal assistants such as Siri, Facebook bots, Google Voice, as well as Alexa.

Artificial intelligence also has application in suggestive searches, behavioral algorithms, as well as self-controlled and self-driven cars that feature sophisticated predictive functionalities. Robots are also being used as personal assistants by humans to help perform tasks such as ordering foods, clothes, or even booking movie or flight tickets.

AI is also used in smart cars such as those being built by Tesla and Google. Other areas where AI is applicable include customer experience, entertainment, buying prediction, etc.

Types of Artificial Intelligence

Typically, there are two types of artificial intelligence: narrow artificial intelligence and general artificial intelligence.

Narrow Artificial Intelligence: Narrow AI systems are those that have been taught how to perform specific tasks without being directly programmed to do so. Examples of this machine are those used in Siri and self-driving cars. These systems are so called because they can only be taught to perform specific tasks.

General Artificial Intelligence: General AI systems are those found in humans, which are adaptable and flexible. General intelligence can learn how to execute different functions such as haircutting, bathing, building spreadsheets, etc. This type of intelligence does not yet exist in a software form.

Memorial Day or Decoration Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.[1]The holiday, which is currently observed every year on the last Monday of May, will be held on May 28, 2018. The holiday was held on May 30 from 1868 to 1970.[2] It marks the unofficial start of the summer vacation season,[3] while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day – Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, whereas Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.[4] It is also not to be confused with Armed Forces Day, a minor U.S. remembrance celebrated earlier in May, which specifically honors those currently serving in the U.S. military.

History

The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom.[5] Soldiers’ graves were decorated in the U.S. before[6] and during the American Civil War.

Some believe that an annual cemetery decoration practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the “memorial day” idea.[7] Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are still held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountain areas. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather, put flowers on graves and renew contacts with relatives and others. There often is a religious service and a picnic-like “dinner on the grounds,” the traditional term for a potluck meal at a church.[7]

On June 3, 1861, Warrenton, Virginia was the location of the first Civil War soldier’s grave ever to be decorated, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper article in 1906.[8] In 1862, women in Savannah, Georgia decorated Confederate soldiers’ graves according to the Savannah Republican.[9] The 1863 cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. On July 4, 1864, ladies decorated soldiers’ graves according to local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.[10] and Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.[11]

In April 1865, following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, commemorations were ubiquitous. The more than 600,000 soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War meant that burial and memorialization took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, an increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government began creating national military cemeteries for the Union war dead.[12]

On May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina, recently freed African-Americans held a parade of 10,000 people to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers, whose remains they had reburied from a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp.[13] Historian David W. Blight discovered contemporary news reports of this forgotten incident in the Charleston Daily Courier and the New-York Tribune. Blight claimed that “African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina”,[14] In 2012, Blight stated that he “has no evidence” that the event in Charleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.[15]Snopes concludes that the decoration day observance did indeed take place but that it was not the origin of Memorial Day, labeling Blight’s claim a “mixture.”[16]

In 1868, copying a southern annual observance,[17] General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers.[18] By the 20th century, various Union and Confederate memorial traditions, celebrated on different days, merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.[1]

On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson designated an “official” birthplace of the holiday by signing the presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the holder of the title. This action followed House Concurrent Resolution 587, in which the 89th Congress had officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day had begun one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York.[19] The village credits druggist Henry C. Welles and county clerk John B. Murray as the founders of the holiday. Scholars have determined that the Waterloo account is a myth.[20] Snopes and Live Science also discredit the Waterloo account.[21

20th century

Indiana from the 1860s to the 1920s saw numerous debates On how to expand the celebration. It was a favorite lobbying activity of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). An 1884 GAR handbook explained that Memorial Day was “the day of all days in the G.A.R. Calendar” in terms of mobolizing public support for pensions. It advised family members to “exercise great care” in keeping the veterans sober.[51]. As the years went by, the GAR complained more and more about the younger generation. In 1913, one Hoosier veteran complained that younger people born since the war had a “tendency … to forget the purpose of Memorial Day and make it a day for games, races and revelry, instead of a day of memory and tears.”[52] Indeed, in 1911 the scheduling of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway car race was vehemently opposed by the increasingly elderly GAR. The state legislature in 1923 rejected the race on that special day. But the new American Legion and local officials wanted the big race to continue, so Governor Warren McCray vetoed the bill and the race went on.[53]

In the national capital in 1913 the four-day “Blue-Gray Reunion” featured parades, re-enactments, and speeches from a host of dignitaries, including President Woodrow Wilson, the first Southerner elected to the White House since the War. James Heflin of Alabama gave the main address. Heflin was a noted orator; His choice as Memorial Day speaker was criticized, as he was opposed for his support of segregation; however, his speech was moderate in tone and stressed national unity and goodwill, gaining him praise from newspapers.[54]

“On Decoration Day” Political cartoon c. 1900 by John T. McCutcheon. Caption: “You bet I’m goin’ to be a soldier, too, like my Uncle David, when I grow up.”

The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from “Decoration Day” to “Memorial Day,” which was first used in 1882.[56] Memorial Day did not become the more common name until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967.[57] On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.[58] The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.[58] After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress’ change of date within a few years.

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